SENDING Fluff (Galileo), a maiden winner of her only start at two, over a mile at Navan, to Japan to be covered made sense.

Fluff contested three stakes or pattern races at three, and while she was not in the frame, she was not disgraced either. She did not possess the racing ability of a number of her siblings, but the move by Coolmore to ship her to Japan was made with one aim – to produce another Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact).

You see, Fluff is a full-sister to the European champion juvenile filly Maybe (Galileo), successful five times at two when her victories included the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes, Group 2 Debutante Stakes, and the Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot. At three, Maybe was placed in the Group 1 1000 Guineas.

Maybe was sent to spend a little time in Japan and one of the upsides was that she bred the Group 1 two-year-old winner and Group 1 classic hero Saxon Warrior, now a Group 1 sire.

The attempt to do the same with Fluff did not have the desired outcome, and a couple of matings with Deep Impact (Sunday Silence) only resulted in a minor winner and a placed horse. After that she visited Heart’s Cry (Sunday Silence), has a two-year-old Irish-born filly Angelica Tree (Lord Kanaloa), while her latest progeny are a yearling colt and filly foal, both by Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj).

Fluff’s three-year-old by Heart’s Cry is Continuous. Last year he won twice, including the mile Group 3 Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud, but he went one better this week at York when he put himself firmly in the Group 1 picture with success in the Great Voltigeur Stakes, a Group 2 contest. Other than finishing down the field in the French Derby, Continuous has been a model of consistency, and his placed efforts include a second-place finish to King Of Steel at Royal Ascot in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes.

Stallion prospect

As a son of Heart’s Cry, Continuous would be a very interesting stallion prospect in this part of the world, while his dam’s family is one that breeders in Europe would be entirely familiar with.

Fluff and Maybe are daughters, along with their Group 1-placed, pattern-winning own-sister Promise To Be True (Galileo), of the two-year-old listed winner Sumora (Danehill). That mare was an obvious target for M.V. Magnier when she came up for sale after the appearance of Maybe, and Sumora cost him 2,400,000gns.

That was in 2011, and in addition to being the dam of Maybe, Sumora’s three-parts sister Dancing Rain (Danehill Dancer) was a dual classic winner that year, triumphant in both the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom and the German equivalent. Dancing Rain sold two years later for 4,000,000gns and is already dam of a pair of Group 1-placed runners, Group 2 winner Magic Lily (New Approach) and French stakes winner Jalmoud (New Approach).

Dr Devious

Dancing Rain and Sumora are daughters of the unraced Rain Flower (Indian Ridge), and her siblings include the Group 1 Derby winner Dr Devious (Ahonoora), the leading sprinter Archway (Thatching), as well as the dams of the 2020 Group 1 Irish Oaks winner Even So (Camelot) and the Japanese Group 1 winner Suzuka Phoenix (Sunday Silence).

A champion at four in Japan, and an international Group 1 winner at five when he was successful in the Dubai Sheema Classic, Heart’s Cry has sired 11 Group 1 winners. Many are household names in their native Japan, while the likes of Just A Way in Dubai, Lys Gracieux and Admire Rakti in Australia, and Yoshida in the USA have flown the flag for him on the global stage.